After six years and major wins with Lidl-Trek, Elisa Longo Borghini is making a bold move to UAE Team ADQ in search of fresh challenges and new goals for 2025 and beyond. The 32-year-old Italian revealed her decision to leave Lidl-Trek, despite a highly successful 2024 season where she captured the Giro d’Italia Women’s title and the Tour of Flanders, noting a desire to step outside her comfort zone. “I won’t be a cyclist forever, and I wanted extra experience outside my comfort zone,” she told Cyclingnews. “I’m ambitious, I like challenges, I like to go where…there is stuff to discover.”
This move to UAE Team ADQ, where she has a three-year contract, isn’t without familiar faces. Her trainer, Paolo Slongo, to whom she credited her successful Giro comeback in 2024, is joining her in this new phase. Additionally, teammates Brodie Chapman and Elynor Bäckstedt will also switch teams, giving Longo Borghini a strong support system as she transitions into her new environment. “There will be many other people I know there, a lot of Italians, too, so it’s going to be familiar—a new challenge but on the other hand I know where I’m going,” she explained.
With a track record that includes multiple top finishes, Longo Borghini has set her sights on Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the 2025 season, aiming to finally secure a win in the race that’s eluded her. “I would really love to try and win Liège because it’s a race I feel in my heart,” she stated. She finished second in both 2023 and 2024 and has been in the top ten six times, making it a clear target in her upcoming season with UAE.
The Tour de France Femmes holds another significant aim for Longo Borghini in 2025. Her past attempts have been plagued with setbacks, including a crash that forced her out in 2023 and a DNS in 2024 after an injury. This time, she’s hopeful for a complete run. “Life has not been fair to me in the Tour de France so far,” she laughed, adding, “For the moment, my biggest ambition is to start the Tour de France and to finish it.” The switch to UAE Team ADQ brings a chance to align her goals with a new squad and possibly secure the result she’s long desired.
For Longo Borghini, 2025’s World Championships in Rwanda add another meaningful goal. Already a three-time bronze medalist, she’s eager for a strong showing on African soil. “It’s extra special,” she remarked, reflecting on how cycling’s expanding global reach fuels her excitement. “I get the feeling that cycling is getting more inclusive… Maybe we can inspire some people and bring something to a different place, too.”
Main photo credit: Getty
